Device for expelling the contents of a collapsible tube

ABSTRACT

A dispenser for expelling the contents of a collapsible tube having an actuating lever which operates in conjunction with a ratchet assembly for dispensing a predetermined amount of material from the tube. The actuating lever is so arranged as to enable the operator to perform the dispensing operation with only one hand. Furthermore, a rest bar acts as a vice in order to virtually completely evacuate the tube.

United States Patent Vanderveen et a].

[451 Apr. 25, 1972 [54] DEVICE FOR EXPELLING THE CONTENTS OF A COLLAPSIBLE TUBE [72] inventors: John E. Vanderveen; Hans B.

Bartholomew, both of San Antonio, Tex.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force [22] Filed: June 2, 1970 [2]] Appl. No.2 42,646

521 u.s.c| ..222/100 51 mu ..B65d35/34 [53] FleldolSearch ..222/l00,391,474,82;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,652,950 9/1953 Major ..222/391 X 1,536,477 5/1925 Crewe ..222/391 X 3,141,583 7/1964 Mapel et al. ..222/82 X 2,624,338 1/1953 Moore et al ..222/391 X Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-Norman L. Stack, Jr. Attorney-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Jacob N. Erlich [5 7] ABSTRACT 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures 1.9 e e i w DEVICE FOR EXPELLING THE CONTENTS .OF A

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a: device utilized in conjunction with a collapsible .tube for dispensing the contents thereof and, more particularly, to such a device ,whichincorporates a gear and lever system in orderto roll up the collapsible tube for the purpose of expelling the contentsthereof.

Semi-fluid materials, such as toothpaste, calking compounds, certain foodstuffs, .and the like, are. conveniently merchandised in expendable collapsible tubes made'ofimetal or plastic from which the materials are dispensed-by-squeezing the tube. Such tubes areeconomical andconvenientin use except that they are time-consumingand,difficulttoevacuate completely, and it is common formore than percenmf the contents of a tube to. remain in the tube and be .wasted when the tube is discarded. .In a. great number of cases, such as in medical applications or in use in our space program;v it is desirable that a measured portion .of the tube contents beextracted. In other cases, as in the use of shaving creams and the like, it is desirable for economical reasons that no more of the tube contents be removed than isactually needed for theshaving operation. Furthermore, one of the problems which ,arises from the use of plastic walled containers is that the wound end of a partially discharged container has a tendency ,to unwind and resume its original tubular configuration due to the restoring force inherent in the plastic material. This, unwinding .is very undesirable since it is accompanied by a suction effect which tends to draw air, bacteria and other impurities into the container to contaminate and harden the contents thereof.

Devices which have been made heretofore for improving the efficiency of dispensing merchandise from, collapsible tubes have comprised winding keys attachable to the .base ofa tube to enable the tube to be wound and flattened to, dispense the contents with littlewaste. Such devices; however, wereinconvenient to fit to the base ofa tube. andwere further extremely inefficient to operate since they require the use of one hand to hold the tube while-the other was usedto turn the dispensing key. Furthermore, thedevices couldnotbe utilized when a measured amount of materialv was to be dispensed. Other dispensing devices were of a complexdesign expensive and difficult to manufacture and in many instances highlyunreliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant invention sets forthi'a device for expelling the contents of a collapsible-tubewhich enables the user with-a one hand operation to dispense a regulatedquantity of material with a minimum of complex structureoThe conventional practice of squeezingthe tube haphazardly by hand has been replaced by the systematic dispensing operationof the instant invention, with the instant invention overcoming the problems set forth hereinabove.

The device of the instant invention is made up,of. ,a;slotted bar which slips over the crimped end of a collapsibletubeaA ratchet driven .gear assembly is attachedto the slotted bar and rotates the bar, and a lever assembly-operates the ratchet;.-assembly. The slotted baris rotated inoperation whilethecollapsible tubeis held stationary byarest bar in order for-the tube to be tightly rollediaround the slotted bar; This action causes virtually all ;the. contents .of the tube to be forced toward the opening Of IIlfilLlbfi flSiIIlC operation continues..

It is another object of this invention to provide a device for expelling the contents of a collapsible tube which can be operated with only one hand.

It isstill another object of this invention to provide a device for expelling the contents of a collapsible tube which is economical to produce and which utilizes conventional, currently available components that lend themselves to standard mass producing manufacturing techniques.

For a better understanding of the present invention together withother and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the dispenser of this invention with a collapsible tube held in position therein; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the dispenser of this invention shown partly in cross-section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the dispenser 10 of this invention for expelling the contents of a collapsible tube is shown with a collapsible tube 12 in operative position. The

. dispenser 10 is made of any suitable material such as metal or tube 12 when the dispenser is in operation.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which shows in detail the elements of the dispenser 10 of this invention. The ratchet compartment 20is either fixedly secured to the handle portion 14 or is formed as an integral part thereof. Within ratchet compartment 20 is a ratchet driven gear assembly 22 made up of a central ratchet wheel 26 having a plurality of teeth thereon and-being rotatably mounted within compartment 20 in any conventional mannenSecured to one side of wheel 26 is a tube holding bar 28 having a slot 30 therein. The slotted bar 28 slips over the crimped end of collapsible tube 12 in use. Gear assembly 22 further comprises a pawl 32 pivotally mounted at34 and biased into the operative position against ratchetwheel 26 by any conventional biasing means such as spring 36 to prevent reverse movement of ratchet wheel 26.

The spring 36 is held in position by plate 38. Forming the driving element of the dispenser 10 of this invention is a pawl 40 securedto the actuating lever 18 by any conventional mounting arrangement suchas pin 42 and spring 44. The actuating lever-18 is pivotably mounted by pin 46 on handle portion 14 andis biased to the operative position by any suitable biasing means such as spring 48 secured at one end to lever 18 and at the other .end being inserted within slot 50. For better operation the actuating lever 18 has an outstanding element 50 forming an integral part thereof which supports the operators hand.Furthermore, in the down position the actuating lever '18 fits within groove 52 of handle portion 14.

MODE OF OPERATION .Referencein once again madeto FIG. 1. When it becomes necessary to dispense the material from the collapsible tube 112, the tubel2 has its crimped end inserted within the slot 30 the material. The pawl 32 is so arranged as to prevent reverse clockwise movement of the bar 28 caused by the inherent resiliency of the tube 12. Each movement of actuating lever 18 causes a predetermined amount of rotation of ratchet wheel 26 and therefore bar 28. It is therefore possible to determine the amount of material dispensed from tube 12 for each actuation of lever 18. Virtually all the contents of the tube 12 will be dispensed due to the pressure put upon tube 12 by the rest bar 24. Furthermore, the dispenser of this invention can be operated with the use of only one hand, thereby allowing the free hand to perform another operation. Such an operation is of utmost importance within, for example, our space program, where one hand operates the dispenser 12 for feeding purposes while the free hand is utilized for important functions aboard the space vehicle. Also the regulated quantity of material allows for the instantaneous determination of how much material is being dispensed.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a variety of alternate embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1 A device for expelling the contents of a resilient collapsible tube comprising a handle portion having a cut-out section therein for accepting the fingers of an operator, an actuating lever pivotally mounted on said handle portion, a biasing means secured to said handle portion and said actuating lever for moving said lever to the operative position, a ratchet assembly compartment located within said handle portion, said compartment housing a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said handle portion, a first pawl operably connected to said actuating lever for rotating said ratchet wheel in one direction, a second pawl pivotally mounted in said ratchet assembly compartment and means for biasing said pawl against said ratchet wheel thereby preventing movement of said ratchet wheel in the other direction, a slotted bar fixedly secured to said ratchet wheel for rotation therewith, and a rest bar fixedly mounted on said handle portion whereby the crimped end of said collapsible tube may be inserted within said slotted bar and movement of said actuating lever in one direction causes rotation of said slotted bar thereby expelling a predetermined amount of material from said tube. 

